11 May, 2017

Support for 1,500 Palestinian hunger strikers grows

Over 1,500
Palestinian prisoners detained in Israeli prisons announced the
beginning of a massive hunger strike on “Palestinian Prisoners’
Day,” an annual April event held in solidarity with Palestinian
political prisoners. The strike was inspired by the bleak conditions
that prisoners face inside the prisons, as they have few other
options to protest their circumstances.

According to
human rights organization Addameer, Israeli prisons hold
approximately 6,500 Palestinians, including an estimated 300
children. At least 550 prisoners are currently being held under
administrative detention, a form of detention used for detainees who
are held without trial or even charges filed against them.

This method
of detention has been used to hold Palestinians indefinitely based on
information that is withheld from the public. The striking prisoners
have called for an end to the use of administrative detention, as
well as made other demands.